Manchester City win Premier League after Nottingham Forest beat Arsenal
2 min read
Manchester City have been crowned the 2022-23 Premier League champions without kicking a ball, following Arsenal’s 1-0 loss at Nottingham Forest.
Taiwo Awoniyi’s 19th minute goal was enough to seal a victory, which also secures Forest’s Premier League survival.
Pep Guardiola’s side are on 85 points, four ahead of Arsenal who only have one game remaining. The club also have a Champions League final to look forward to, where they will be favourites to defeat Inter Milan, following their dismantling of defending champions Real Madrid on Wednesday.
It is City’s fifth league title in six years.
The treble is on the cards, as they face neighbours and fierce rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup final.
Mikel Arteta introduced a strange new system which left the Gunners looking completely disjointed from start to finish, and Taiwo Awoniyi’s first-half goal will go down in history as one of the biggest in recent history.
A full-throttle start from Forest led to some nervy moments for Arsenal, but the Gunners found their footing eventually and started to play some delicious football. Keylor Navas got out quick to end one such move but was a little fortunate as Gabriel Jesus’ header lofted up and narrowly onto the roof of the net.
It was Forest, however, who drew first blood. Morgan Gibbs-White led an electric counter before slotting through Awoniyi, who was fortunate to deflect Gabriel’s attempted clearance back into an open net.
With a Forest win enough to secure survival for the hosts and deliver the Premier League title to Manchester City, Arsenal’s desire to respond was clear although their performance turned scrappy and uncomfortable as Forest dropped back to defend their much-needed points.
This new-look Arsenal boasted over 80% possession in the first half but rarely looked like testing Navas before the break.
The same narrative continued into the second half, but Arsenal did threaten to make something happen when Bukayo Saka got behind his man and fired a shot directly into the body of the relieved Navas.
Gibbs-White drove into the side netting soon after following yet another defensive slip-up from Arsenal, before Renan Lodi’s effort went fizzing across goal.
Arsenal continued to limply knock on the door but never really looked like getting through before the full-time whistle blew to seal the fate of Forest, Arsenal and Manchester City.
